Cardinals to Play Exhibition Game in Springfield

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The first 2012 game in Missouri for the world champion St. Louis Cardinals will be in Springfield, not St. Louis.

The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they'll play an exhibition game April 2 against the Double-A affiliate Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field in the southwest Missouri community. The Cardinals open the regular season two days later in Miami against the Marlins.

The Cardinals say they originally hoped to play two exhibition games in Springfield, partly to make up for the fact that a sold-out exhibition game scheduled for this past April was canceledbecause of weather. But the team says its schedule, set by Major League Baseball, didn't allow time for two games.